Protective garment



April 15, 1958 R. N. SABYEE PROTECTIVE GARMENT Filed Oct. 19, 1954United States 2,830,297 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 2,830,297PROTECTIVEVGARMENT Application October 19, 1954, Serial No. 463,091 4Claims. or. 2-49 The present invention relates generally to a protectivegarment and is particularly directed to an improved form of articleadaptable for use in the protection of clothing which includes a'tie ortape for attaching such protective article to the person.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvedform of protective garment or article comprising a flexible sheet and anattaching tape fixed to thesheet. Another object is to provide animproved method of making a protective article of the type described.Additional objects and advantages of this invention will become apparentas the disclosure progresses with respect to the accompanying drawings,wherein a bib structure has been chosen to illustrate the principles ofthe invention. r

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view of the back side of a bib embodying certain of theprinciples of the present invention, prior to the attachment of the tie.

Figure 2 is a view of the completed and folded bib.

Figure 3 illustrates a step in the formation of the bib. 3

Figure 4 is a view of a modified form of in Figures 13.

Figure 5 is bib. V

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view of still another modified form of theinvention.

With reference first to Figures 1-3, it is seen that one embodimentchosen to ill trate the principles of the present invention is in thenature of a bib 8, such as is worn about the neck to prevent food orother substances from soiling the Wearers clothing. In the production ofsuch an article it is, of course, important to minimize themanufacturing cost without detracting from the usefulness of thearticle. Generally, this has been achieved with the illustrated articlethrough the simplification of the mode of attachment of the tie or tapeto the flexible protective sheet 10. The tying string or tape 12 isdisposed over a corner portion of the sheet 10 and the corner is thenlapped over the tape 12 andxfixed in position by the use of an adhesive,orby heat sealing together facing portions of the folded corner and thesheet which include a thermoplastic material,,in. a. manner aflixingthe. tie tape12 in position on the. protective sheet 10. I

The illustrated embodiment of Figures. 1-3 is in. the. form of adisposable bib, wherein the sheet 10 comprises an absorbent facing 14,such as tissue, and an impervious backing 16 of thermoplastic material.The facing 14 is preferably made of a multi-ply tissue sheet, in orderto provide adequate absorbency to retain fluid material, which issuitably embossed to prevent separation of the tissue plies and, also,to enhance the appearance of the bib. Furthermore, the embossed tissuefacing is readily printable and, consequently, a bib of this type maypro.- vide a relatively inexpensive advertising medium.

In some instances it may not be necessary or desirable to provide animpervious backing for the bib. Howthe bib shown a view of anothermodified .form of the ever, if such a backing is desired, it has beenfound that a satisfactory and economical sheet may be formed byembedding cellulose fibers in a continuous film of polyethylene, withthe fibers extending into but not through the film. Of course, othertypes of fibers and other thermoplastics may be used, or a sheet ofthermoplastic material without fibers might be used. As will be seenhereinafter, the use of a backing containing a heat-scalable substanceobviates the need for any subsequent application of an adhesive orthermoplastic in aflixing the tie 12 to the bib.

In adapting the thermoplastically backed sheet 10 to use as a bib, thetie 12 is disposed across a corner 18 of the sheet at the back and thecorner 18 is then folded over the tie, as indicated by broken lines inFigure 1. This places two sections of the thermoplastic surface of thebacking sheet 16 in contact with each other, as well as in contact withthe tie 12 which is disposed adjacent the fold line. The tie 12 is thensecured in position on the bib and, at the same time, a neck-conformingportion is provided along the line of the fold by the application ofheat and pressure to the overlapping corner to bond the latter to theback of the sheet 10. The tie 12 may be of any suitable shape andmaterial, but it is preferable to utilize a flat, paper tape for thispurpose. The

latter has the advantage of being economical, it bonds well to thethermoplastic backing, posable.

With reference particularly to Figures 2 and 3, it Will be seen that thedisposable bib 8 just described is particularly simple to form and foldfor packaging or storage. Having a rectangular sheet 10 of thethermoplastic backed tissue, the sheet is first folded in alternatedirections along one or more equally spaced, parallel lines 20(Figure 1) which are also parallel to a pair of the side edges of thesheet (Figure 3). This folding is done in a manner such that thethermoplastic surface is left exposed on at least one side of the foldedsheet. The elongated folded sheet thus formed is then folded in half, ina direction normal to that of the initial folding, along the lineindicated at 22.

In the described embodiment (Figures l-3) the bib surface is now reducedto one-eighth of its full size, thereby making it easier to handle andof a size which is better adapted for packaging. The tie tape 12 is thenplaced diagonally across the free corner portion 18 of the exposedthermoplastic back of the folded bib, and the corner is folded over thetie tape to a position adjacent the folded edge of the bib. The foldedcorner and the. underlying tie section are then sealed in position bysuitable means, such as through the application of a heated platen. Ithas been found that a satisfactory bond can thus be established at thefolded corner without having the heat penetrate to inner portions of thefolded bib in suificient intensity to affect the remainder of the bib.

It is seen, therefore, that the entire bib 8 can be formed by simpleoperations which are unhampered by the presence of the tie tape 12,since the latter is readily applied. after the bib is. entirely foldedfor packaging? This feature makes the bib particularly adaptable tolarge scale production on an economical basis.

A modified form of bib construction is shown in Figure 4, which is ofreduced scale as compared with Figures 1-3. In the modified arrangementthe bib may be formed of the same sheet 10 which is described above andwhich has an absorbent facing 14 of multi-ply tissues and an imperviousbacking 16 of thermoplastic material. However, the folded cornerportion, indicated at 24, is considerably larger than the correspondingcorner 18 of the previous construction.

and is readily disin the making of aprons a'nd'the like. 'As will beapparent,

the modified form of bib affords all of the advantages discussed withrespect to the embodiment of Figure 1. In the bib shown in Figure 4,less folding is required, but a greater surface area is also presentedin the finally folded bib and, therefore, necessitates a package ofgreater surface area than in the previously described form.

A further modification is shown in Figure 5, wherein a flexible sheet ofmaterial 26 is used which does not have an entire backing ofheat-scalable material. In such case.

there is provided a bondable strip 28 along one or both sides of thefold line 30 at which the corner portion 32 is to be folded over thetape 12. .The strip 28 may be in the form of an adhesive substance whichis printed, or otherwise applied, on the bib sheet'26 either during theinitial formation of the sheet or at any time in the process of foldingthe sheet prior to the final attachment of the tape 12. The strip 28 mayalso comprise an area of heat-sealable material which can be bonded toitself and to the tape 12 by the application of heat to the foldedcorner, in the manner described above with respect to the embodiment ofFig. 2.

Still another modification is illustrated in Figure 6, wherein the tietape 12 is positioned in spaced relation to the folded corner edge ofthe sheet 33, and the folded over corner portion 34 is sealed only inthe area, indicated at 36, extending to and including the tape but notextending to the edge of the folded corner. This may be particularlypreferred in instances wherein it is desired to have a very soft edgealong the portion of the bib that isto be placed around the neck. In thepreviously described forms of bib the sealing of the folded over corners18, 24 and 32 will produce a crease along the folded edge and may,

therefore, provide a certain amount of stiffness along such edge. In aconstruction such as is shown in Figure 6, there is no need for creasingthe sheet along the folded edge of the corner 26 andthe latter will,therefore,.pre sent a relatively soft edge of absorbent materiaL,

It is seen from the foregoing, therefore, that a bib constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention requires no dieouts in forming the neck-receiving portion of the bib, there is nosewing of thetie tape to the body of the bib, and the tie may beautomatically positioned on the bib'by the folding and sealing of acorner portion in overlapping relation thereto. Furthermore, the simpleapplication of the tie tape may readily be made the final stepinproduction and, therefore, the tie is not present to interfere withany of the folding operations during the early stages of bib formation.As a result, there is offered a form of bib construction which isextremely economical in cost and which lends itself readily to massproduction. A

Moreover, the disclosed bib structure provides for double strength inthe normal area'of wear adjacent the neck, as well as double protectionagainst penetration of fluids in this area, through the presence of thefolded corner portion which secures the tie tape in position.

Although shown and described with respect to particular embodiments andmaterials, it will be apparent that other modified forms of constructionand other materials may be used without departing from the principles ofthis invention.

I claim: 1. A protective garment comprising a sheet of absorbentmaterial having a backing of thermoplastic material,

bib being generally rectangular said sheet being formed to present atleast one corner portion, an attaching tape disposed across said onecorner on the side having said thermoplastic backing, and

said one corner being folded over said tape and heat sealed in positionto thereby afiix said attaching tape to the bib between facing portionsof said thermoplastic material, with the neckreceiving edge portionformed there by presenting a surface of said absorbent material alongits length.

2. A disposable bib comprising a sheet of absorbent material having abacking of thermoplastic material, said sheet having a shape presentingat least one corner portion, an attaching tape disposed across said onecorner portion on the side having said thermoplastic backing, and saidone corner being folded over said tape along a line spaced from saidtape and with said tape sealed in position between facing portions ofsaid thermoplastic material, to thereby affix said attaching tape to thebib and present a neck-receiving portion of said absorbent material forthe bib.

3. A disposable bib comprising a multi-ply fibrous tissue sheet having acontinuous backing of thermoplastic polyethyene film, fibers, of saidsheet being embedded in said film so as to connect said backing to saidsheet, said in shape and having an attaching tape disposed across onecorner thereof on the side having said backing, ,said' one corner beingfolded over said tape and heat sealed in position to thereby 'affix saidattaching tape to said bib' between facing portions of said backing,with the neck-receiving edge portion formed thereby presenting a surfaceof said tissue along its entire length.

4. A. disposable bib comprising a multi-ply fibrous tis- 1 sue sheethaving a continuous backing of thermoplastic film, the fibers of saidsheet being embedded in said back- References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,618,208 Lichter Feb. 22, 1927 2,206,412Levy July 2,1940 2,423,581 Clark July 8, 1947 2,438,771 Topjian Mar. 30,1948 2,523,323 Privott Sept. 26, 1950 Sept. 26, 1950 2,523,565 Gardnerbeing heat sealed together ad-'

